Mountain Mindfulness

31/08/2025

Taking yoga off the mat 🌿🌸

🧘‍♂️ Beyond Techniques: The Deeper Power of Yoga Ta**ra

Many students approach yoga and ta**ra as a collection of techniques: breathing, mantra, meditation, ritual.

These practices are powerful, yes, but they are not the essence. They are tools.

The true strength of Yoga Ta**ra lies in its philosophy, its view of life.

It does not divide our experience into “spiritual” and “unspiritual,” “sacred” and “profane.” Rather, it teaches us that every experience has the potential to awaken consciousness if we meet it with awareness.

This means that the difficulties of life (illness, conflict, loss, confusion) are not obstacles to practice. They are part of the practice. They are invitations to bring awareness into places where we normally withdraw, resist, or become unconscious.

To practice in this way requires courage and maturity. It asks us to include the whole of ourselves, not only what we like or wish to show others.

When anger arises... awareness is there.
When love arises... awareness is there.
When fear, jealousy, joy, or grief arise... awareness is there.

This is why the philosophy of Yoga Ta**ra is not an abstract theory. It is a lens that changes how you live each moment. It is the reminder that nothing is wasted. All can be included. All can be transformed.

🕉️ Reflection for your practice:
When something unpleasant arises today, can you hold it within awareness — neither pushing it away nor indulging in it — but simply observing?

**ra

25/08/2025

A few photos from our Sacred Song gathering on the weekend. Chando and I loved facilitating the afternoon. There was such a beautiful feeling in the room. And the most wonderful harmonious singing and moving. One person wrote to me today and said:

"It felt like we were all petals in a fully opened lotus flower floating peacefully in the ocean of this sacred Cosmos".

Wow! That will be pretty hard to top, but we will try! Our next Sacred Song will be on Saturday 18 October, and the theme will be LOVE. I do hope you will join us again. 🌸🌿🙏

24/08/2025

Broad, expansive and oh so chilly. 🌸🌿

18/08/2025

We love being in Fern Tree. The warmth in the room, the sound of the birds and the purity of the mountain air all played into another wonderfully meditative day. Everyone went home with a few more practices in their wellbeing toolkit. Afternoon qigong always a highlight!

Peace Retreat 3 now open for booking on website. 🌿🌸

16/08/2025

We are so looking forward to our day retreat on the mountain tomorrow, and ready to welcome another wonderful group. If you're coming, rug up!!! It's going to be cold and wet with a maximum of 6 degrees. Don't worry though, it will be warm inside. 😃

The way I think about practicing mindfulness is that it's like pushing the pause button on our lives. It allows us to relax physically and mentally, opens up emotionally. We become more present, grounded, spontaneous, less serious and we have more fun. It helps us live consciously and to make good clear decisions for ourselves, for our health and for our lives.

Tomorrow is going to be a day of practice, sharing & conversation with Suzanne King and I, and we can't wait. 🙏🌿❤

06/08/2025

A U G U S T News 🌿☀️ - https://mailchi.mp/008930857607/yoga-nidra-gift-14192110

30/07/2025

Loved working with Mel Maddocks on the weekend and learning about emotional health. And what a beautiful group we have gathered to share this journey with over the next 2 months. It feels so very special already. ❤🌿🙏

26/07/2025

We touched on this subject today in our Find Your Balance workshop. Learning skills to manage our minds is empowering! Life gets better ❤️

Life will test you.
People will disappoint you.
Situations will frustrate you.
Emotions will rise like storms — intense, overwhelming, and often unpredictable.

But here's the truth:
If your mind is not stronger than your emotions, you’ll react instead of respond. You’ll break instead of bend. You’ll drift instead of rise.

📿 Buddha taught us:

> “The mind is everything. What you think, you become.”

Your mind is the captain of your ship.
If your emotions steer you, you’ll constantly crash against the rocks of regret, anger, impulsiveness, and sorrow.

But when you train your mind:

You pause before reacting.

You reflect instead of retaliate.

You choose peace over chaos.

You stay centered even when everything around you is shaking.

🧘‍♂️ This doesn’t mean suppressing your emotions. It means understanding them, observing them, and rising above them.

Because peace is not the absence of emotion —
It’s the mastery of it.

🎯 So start the inner training:

Meditate daily.

Journal your triggers.

Breathe through discomfort.

Respond with wisdom, not impulse.

And remember:
An untrained mind is your worst enemy.
A trained mind is your greatest power.

24/07/2025

The daphne is out at my place and suddenly the whole atmosphere is perfumed!

24/07/2025

The daphne is out at my place and suddenly the whole atmosphere is perfumed. 🩷

23/07/2025

New venue, new harmonium, new photo! (Thankyou Fran!)
It's been a great first week of term so far. We loved the new venue for the Om Choir at Kingston. There's a bit more room to move! If you live in the area come and sing with us. Wednesdays 4 - 5.15 pm. All voices welcome. 🙏💙🌿

21/07/2025

The depth of Yoga Nidra ❤️

Yoga Nidra is one of the rare practices that touches all five koshas (the layers of our being) from the physical to the blissful.

🌿 The body (annamaya kosha) is gently relaxed through rotation of consciousness.

🌬 The breath (pranamaya kosha) becomes subtle and effortless.

🌀 The mind (manomaya kosha) begins to quieten.

🧭 The higher intellect (vijnanamaya kosha) is engaged through sankalpa - clear intention.

🕊 And beyond all this, the doorway to anandamaya kosha opens. Not as an emotional high, but as quiet joy and inner stillness.

This layered access is what makes Yoga Nidra so healing.
It does not just soothe the surface—it speaks to the whole being.

When taught with care and understanding, it becomes not just a technique, but a return to wholeness.